The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: minor super-villain

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 191: THE DEVIL

    (Crack Comics 007, 1940) 

    There is no textual evidence for this, but since this guy is dressed exactly like the unnamed boss of the Skull Gang (plus some rad horns) and uses the very similar tactic of dosing his minions (the Robbers from Hades – good name) with toxins that make them all shriveled and weird (and in this case more pliable and obedient), I like to think that it’s the same guy back for another shot at making his fortune in the crime boss game, albeit without taking the very sensible precaution of, say, switching cities or otherwise trying to avoid the Clock. This time, alas, he meets his end, so we won’t be treated to a green-hooded man with a tail leading squads of Demonic Monkey Marauders, or a green-hooded man with a tinfoil halo commanding his Larceny Angels. Sad days.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 191: THE DEVIL

    (Crack Comics 007, 1940) 

    There is no textual evidence for this, but since this guy is dressed exactly like the unnamed boss of the Skull Gang (plus some rad horns) and uses the very similar tactic of dosing his minions (the Robbers from Hades – good name) with toxins that make them all shriveled and weird (and in this case more pliable and obedient), I like to think that it’s the same guy back for another shot at making his fortune in the crime boss game, albeit without taking the very sensible precaution of, say, switching cities or otherwise trying to avoid the Clock. This time, alas, he meets his end, so we won’t be treated to a green-hooded man with a tail leading squads of Demonic Monkey Marauders, or a green-hooded man with a tinfoil halo commanding his Larceny Angels. Sad days.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 190: THE ELECTRICAL WIZARD

    (Crack Comics 007, 1940)

    This is a weird guy. I’m not entirely sure what his deal is, to be honest. He’s developed some sort of revolutionary hydroelectric generator and some sort of lightning projector and claims that they are “useless commercially” but doesn’t really outline why. He extorts men with the last name Garr for some reason. I mean, it seems like it should be that the Garrs all got together and quashed his funding because he threatened their own business and now he’s getting revenge. Or maybe he’s the black sheep of the Garr family and now he’s eliminating everyone else to inherit their monies. The guy needs just a bit more motivation!

    Drowned by Madam Fatal.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 190: THE ELECTRICAL WIZARD

    (Crack Comics 007, 1940)

    This is a weird guy. I’m not entirely sure what his deal is, to be honest. He’s developed some sort of revolutionary hydroelectric generator and some sort of lightning projector and claims that they are “useless commercially” but doesn’t really outline why. He extorts men with the last name Garr for some reason. I mean, it seems like it should be that the Garrs all got together and quashed his funding because he threatened their own business and now he’s getting revenge. Or maybe he’s the black sheep of the Garr family and now he’s eliminating everyone else to inherit their monies. The guy needs just a bit more motivation!

    Drowned by Madam Fatal.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 189: THE MASTER BRAIN

    (Crack Comics 007, 1940)

    Comics set in the future feature a lot of villains who would be suitable for inclusion here if it weren’t for the fact that they are rendered unremarkable by context. Rock Braddon of the Space Legion, hero of this piece, has for instance faced off against several very villainous space pirates and alien conquerors over the prior six issue of Crack Comics, but the Master Brain is his first foe to make the cut.

    The Master Brain (also styled the Brain Master) kidnaps brilliant men and, with the help of his brain-stealing machine and his pal Gor, sucks the knowledge out of their heads and into his own. A classic scheme, with a classic consequence: the Master Brain’s brain gets too much brain in it, and goes insane. A shame.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 189: THE MASTER BRAIN

    (Crack Comics 007, 1940)

    Comics set in the future feature a lot of villains who would be suitable for inclusion here if it weren’t for the fact that they are rendered unremarkable by context. Rock Braddon of the Space Legion, hero of this piece, has for instance faced off against several very villainous space pirates and alien conquerors over the prior six issue of Crack Comics, but the Master Brain is his first foe to make the cut.

    The Master Brain (also styled the Brain Master) kidnaps brilliant men and, with the help of his brain-stealing machine and his pal Gor, sucks the knowledge out of their heads and into his own. A classic scheme, with a classic consequence: the Master Brain’s brain gets too much brain in it, and goes insane. A shame.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 188: THE SKULL GANG

    (Crack Comics 006, 1940)

    What makes them a super-villain (group)? They’re a gang of thieves who are so devoted to this generic hooded guy that they all take small doses of arsenic to give themselves an emaciated skeletal appearance! The penalty for not thieving enough is death! What a dumb thing to dedicate your life to! Absolutely they qualify as a team of very stupid super-villains.

    SKULL SCORE: 1/5 Bald guys with gritted teeth just don’t cut the mustard, I’m afraid.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 187: THE MASTER

    (Crack Comics 006, 1940)

    The best thing about the Master is absolutely his henchmen, the Kite Men. Identical shirtless bald guys who shoot lightning from their bracelets as they soar above unnamed, probably American cities, the Kite Men are some terrific weirdo henchmen. They all get blasted by the Black Condor by the end of the story, but until then they have a good run.

    The Master himself is your typical world conqueror, whose motivation seems to be that he’s sick of being laughed at because he’s a dwarf. And as if to illustrate, when Black Condor discovers the leader of this plot who has already killed tens or hundreds of thousands of people, he too laughs. HE’S PART OF THE PROBLEM.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 186: THE JAY BIRD

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 186: THE JAY BIRD

    (Crack Comics 005, 1940) 

    The Jay Bird is one of my favourite minor super-villains of all time, I reckon. He’s just a guy in a bird mask with a gimmick that is simultaneously very simple and far too complex and dangerous: he simulates flight via a very long tether that is dangling him from a plane. Thus equipped, he swoops down and robs various targets on the streets of New York City, quipping all the time. He’s great!

    The real unsung hero here has to be his pilot, Spike, for managing to not smear the Jay Bird across a skyscraper the first time they tried this. What a guy! Sadly he was killed in the Jay Bird’s encounter with the Clock.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 185: THE SAPPHIRE KING

    (Crack Comics 005, 1940) 

    What makes them a super-villain? As his name suggests, the Sapphire king is motivated by his desire for and love of sapphires – he seems to love them for themselves and also for the wealth and by extension power they grant him. And he gets sapphires by using giant eagles to kidnap ships’ crews and take them to his island in the Indian Ocean, there to labour in his underwater sapphire mines (?) until giant octopus or some other death claims them. So: ruthless pursuit of an obsession using extreme methods over practical ones (kidnapping an endless stream of sailors vs draining the sapphire pool): that’s a super-villain.

    But even an eagle-rich island sapphire colony is not immune to interference from meddling super-heroes: the Black Condor shows up and slays both the birds and the Sapphire King himself, sending the former mine slaves on their way with some compensatory gemstones.